That is an interesting idea. I would like that. There is already something like that with increment time controls already. So maybe chesscube could expand the time controls they offer that have a custom time with increments. This would only work for regular non-tournament games though.

I only suggested a 30 second move timer so the player has to make a move within a period of time. That avoids the problem of a loosing player waiting for hours or days to make a move, plus a tournament must have players making moves on a regular basis.

b) would a game never end on time, then? (the next round would never start)

Tournament games would end in either a mate, a draw, or time forfeit, then the next round would start.A draw could also be cause by reaching the maximum number of allowed moves in a game.

The idea is to have a chess tournament that gives a player a reasonable amount of time to place a move,while allowing the game to be completed without a game timer causing the win or loss of the game.

The only reason a player would get a time forfeit is if they do not place the move within a reasonable amount of time.